Overview

• Birmingham Police concluded that three-year-old Ketorrius Starks Jr. was accidentally left in a vehicle by a contractor for the Alabama Department of Human Resources.
• Authorities say the transporter deviated from the route to run personal errands and failed to return the boy to daycare before leaving him in the car.
• Officers opened a formal death investigation this week and Jefferson County’s district attorney will determine whether to file criminal charges.
• Ketorrius endured about five hours inside a vehicle in near-100-degree heat on July 22 before being discovered unresponsive and pronounced dead.
• Child safety advocates and the family’s attorney are pressing the Alabama Department of Human Resources for stricter transport protocols and automated alerts to avert future hot-car tragedies.